San Jose Barracuda: great name, but how do the jersey and logo look?

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San Jose Barracuda: great name, but how do the jersey and logo look?

The San Jose Barracuda are the Sharks' AHL affiliate for 2015-16 and beyond. Do the Barracuda's logo and jersey make the grade?

The San Jose Sharks are all but Shark fin soup in the Western Conference playoff race. The organization should thus seek enjoyment elsewhere. That's why Thursday was an ideal moment to announce the Sharks' new AHL affiliate, the Barracuda, which will play in the freshly designed Pacific Division starting next season.More on that here. Great name, great division setup, great travel situation for parent and child clubs. But do the new logo and jersey sink or swim? Let's have a look.

THE LOGO Plenty to like about the logo shown at the top of this post. There's a nice consistency of theme. The Barracuda is a large, predatory fish. It's portrayed with the same cartoonish intensity as the Sharks' logo. Both look like villains from the originalTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. One significant caveat: the fish…has…HANDS. The San Jose Shark is a vicious, primal creature who doesn't know what hockey is, let alone a hockey stick. Put a piece of lumber in front of his face andhe will bite it. The San Jose Barracuda? Self-aware, well-read in the arts of hockey and evidently more concerned with high-sticking than sharpening his razor-like teeth. So the AHL affiliate has taken some biological liberties. That or we're witnessing Darwinian evolution as a precursor to natural selection. "Barracuda learns to use crude tools, slays shark."THE JERSEYS The Barracuda rock a white home jersey. It has some nice consistency with the Sharks' white road sweater in terms of color scheme and arm stripes. It's a thrill to see none of that rib piping that pollutes some NHL jerseys, like those of the Avalanche. For now it appears the Barracuda won't adopt additional numbering on the front of their sweaters, as the parent Sharks do. The Barracuda rock road teal instead of home teal. Either way, it looks as brilliant as the Sharks' version. No complaints here. The orange alternates easily make for the most interesting jersey selection. Pro: hockey doesn't have enough orange uniforms, so these look great. Con: the color scheme looks a lot like that of the Anaheim Ducks' alternate jersey, especially since the Barracuda also employ black as a secondary color. Assuming they keep their black helmet, the full ensemble will look even more like the Ducks getup. All in all, there's more to like than dislike about the Barracuda's look. Awesome colors, awesome consistency, mean-looking fish. On the other hand, they lose a few points for veering too close to the duck pond. Oh, and because the FISH...HAS...HANDS. One thing we can at least agree on: the Barracuda must skate out tothis song every game, correct?Matt Larkin is an associate editor at The Hockey News and a regular contributor to the thn.com Post-To-Post blog. For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine. Follow Matt Larkin on Twitter at @THNMattLarkin